Dragonball SD seems very, very pointless.
Although, I posted just to say that The Daz has best Christmas avatar period.
Dragonball SD seems very, very pointless.
Although, I posted just to say that The Daz has best Christmas avatar period.
good enough? alot of characters got shafted once goku became an adult and had gohan.
Saiyans: Piccolo does some stuff, everyone else get's killed. krillin and gohan survives
Freiza: Vegeta's an ally, oh look piccolo get's some screentime, krillin get's screentime, more focus on the saiyans
Cell: Major saiyan focus. Everyone gets to train and we don't get to see the fruits of their labor. Piccolo the only character outside of the saiyans get's to do anything. Tien does something besides be a cheerleader.
Buu: What other characters? it's all about the saiyans. Piccolo is a cheerleader now.
….... good point, I forget how badly he showed support characters, humans became useless but at least he should have kept piccolo at the same level with vegeta, I wanted to see a zoro sanji rivalry between the two, or at least one fight where they were on equal ground, I mean they never even fought each other :sad:
Actually, Saiyans and the other aliens are all called 'humans' (ningen), too. Tenshinhan and the others are best described as 'Earthlings' (chikyû-jin).
Anyhow, after sixteen volumes I say the new characters deserved their share of the focus. Those new characters all just so happened to not be Earthlings.
By the way, I don't think this was ever post. Herms of Kanzentai.com posted a cited guide about all of the supposed original endings Toriyama had planned. He debunks the Namek rumors quite easily, too. This is probably the best anime article ever written. :p
It's so … heartwarming to see the Author of probably the most well known/thought of manga to come out of Japan saying things like "I didn't think it would be popular" and that kinda stuff.
I got teary eyed when he apologized for killing off son goku in the end..
It's so … heartwarming to see the Author of probably the most well known/thought of manga to come out of Japan saying things like "I didn't think it would be popular" and that kinda stuff.
I got teary eyed when he apologized for killing off son goku in the end..
wait…. what are we talking about now?
This: http://daizex.fanboyreview.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=15102
It's an interesting read, and at least it seems to de-confirm the idea that Toriyama had intended to end the series after Freeza or Cell. Sure, Toriyama may have written his story with little planning ahead, but unlike other manga authors who do that, it still remained interesting and fun to read.
Dragonball SD seems very, very pointless.
Although, I posted just to say that The Daz has best Christmas avatar period.
HO, HO HO, COWER BRIEF MORTALS
…
I mean, thanks.
Also, whether toyirama intended to end after Frieza or not doesn't change that the series quality took a significant drop with Cell.
Reading the article, it does feel in some ways that the problems that emerged with the whole period of early Z seems to be tied to the second editor now. I have noticed a lot of of the imagination that Toriyama usually had seemed rather restrained in his period compared to the original part and even the end of Cell (when we get Mr. Satan) and obviously Buu.
The Namek Arc would of been an epic ending with giving us fans the decision to weather or not Goku lived, and have the credits be similar to Mega Man Zero 4 where Ciel is watching the night sky wondering if Zero is alive with sad music playing in the background. They could do that for Gohan.
Very insightful article. Long as hell, but insightful.
I guess touch on the whole Gohan/Buu Saga issue since it's the one that hits closest to home for me. I don't blame fan outcry for Goku becoming the MC again, nor do I blame editorial interference. I think the issue was that Toriyama sincerely did want to make Gohan the new hero of the story, but then he had no idea what to do with him. It's not that Gohan is an inherently bad character, as we saw in the fanpolls he was actually #1 for a little while. But there were a lot of things that went wrong with Adult Gohan, such as:
-He becomes docile and weak
-Adult Gohan looks like Yamcha
-He prances around in a superhero getup
-He goes to high school (WTF? Wasn't he home-schooled?)
-He gets his energy stolen like a little bitch by two fodder villains.
-He gets beaten like a little bitch by Buu
-He stays out of the spotlight while doing some training. Training, BTW, that will make him no longer need to go SS, which is kinda lame since his claim to fame in the Cell Saga was being the first guy to reach the next level of SS.
It didn't help that Goku also showed him up by having reached SS3. And lets face it, Toriyama's writing quality had already dropped substantially during the Cell Saga. There were a few things he did right in the Buu Saga (quite a few, actually) but he just couldn't write for Gohan worth a darn.
Related to DBZ and DB
Has anyone got any of the Daizenshuu art books? There are 7 of them and I have not yet come across good scans of them. It'd be cool if someone here could scan them as nice as the One Piece Colour walks we have. Just a thought.
But there were a lot of things that went wrong with Adult Gohan, such as:
-He becomes docile and weak
Yeah, that was Toriyama dropping the ball on that one. But really, he never did WANT to be a fighter, just the circumstances always forced it upon him, and there was no imminent threat, why WOULD he keep training?
-Adult Gohan looks like Yamcha
-He prances around in a superhero getup
-He goes to high school (WTF? Wasn't he home-schooled?)
Chichi ALWAYS wanted him to go to school. Just saving the world nad training for three years at a time overrode that some, much to her objection. She didn't want him being a country hick like she and Goku were, she wanted him to interact with real people his age and start getting proper papers so he could go to college. He had an awful lot of homework for homeschooled… That aspect was ALWAYS there.
And I don't think Toriyama having the same dozen faces for all his characters can be held against Gohan so much... and I actually really enjoyed the change of pace that the superhero going to school and awkward romance/training escapades provided, particularly since the other characters lampshaded things so quickly by knowing it was Gohan or thinking the outfit was stupid. Its one of my favorite parts of the series.
The dislike for the superhero outfit seems odd to me since it was basically the same design as everyone else's outfit, especially after he ditched the helmet and cape. (Which was all just parodying superman and sentai teams anyway, no different than the Ginyu force.)
I'll grant that the anime took it a bit further and extended it to the point of blech and made everyone a cabbage head for not figuring it out sooner. But that was the anime.
-He gets his energy stolen like a little bitch by two fodder villains.
-He gets beaten like a little bitch by Buu
-He stays out of the spotlight while doing some training. Training, BTW, that will make him no longer need to go SS, which is kinda lame since his claim to fame in the Cell Saga was being the first guy to reach the next level of SS.
Gohan having full SS3+ power WITHOUT his hair going blonde or wasting energy was badass. Full three phase transformation power, WITHOUT a transformation was a nice change of pace by that point.
As for all the other stuff, every one of those are that asshole Supreme Kai's fault. He ruined everything. Including Goku and Vegeta's match. He kept Piccollo from playing in the tournament. HE froze Gohan in place so he could get suckered, and held back everyone else from helping. And HE had the asinine plan of "Hey, lets give Babidi way more energy than he actually needs because I haven't done my research and didn't realize these fight happy Saiyans can power up Buu to full in about 20 seconds and that freezing Gohan in place provides them like, half the energy they need." It was HIS idea to say "go ahead and figt Vegerta while he's evil." His idea to casually test out the potara. His idea to use a legendary sword that he had no idea the real use of.
Really. He could have told Goku "yes, there's an a powerful fighter on this planet that I am searching for" and then Goku could have done a Ki scan, located Babidi or Dabura or any of the other guys on the ship, (Since Dabura was at LEAST above Frieza level power, he should have been easy to find)
instantaneously moved there, and 1HKOed the lot of them before they had any idea what was going on and before giving Buu any energy at all, then been back to the tournament in time to fight Vegeta.
If Supreme Kai had any idea what those guys were capable of.
Supreme Kai is the worst most useless character ever.
Pin some of the blame where its due.
It didn't help that Goku also showed him up by having reached SS3.
To be fair, he showed up Vegeta then too… and made a point about it not being a technique for the living. And Vegeta was incredibly pissed off about having sold his soul to become evil again to match Goku, only to find Goku still had another reserve of power past that. And Goten and Trunks were already making jokes of the SS transformation anyway.
Boo arc Gohan does actually express an enjoyment of fighting. He considered Dabra sport and actually had a positive attitude about the Tenka'ichi Budôkai once he got past the entire blackmailing deal. Certainly a lot better than the Gohan who–during the midst of the Cell Games--stopped having his head on straight.
I think Gohan wound up simply being a case of Toriyama not knowing how to continue writing him. With Gokû as the lead he could simply go on using the same set-up time and time again if he so wished.
@RobbyBevard:
Yeah, that was Toriyama dropping the ball on that one. But really, he never did WANT to be a fighter, just the circumstances always forced it upon him, and there was no imminent threat, why WOULD he keep training?
With great power comes great responsibility. Plus, you know, he's pretty much the main hope of the earth. You'd think that would put things in perspective.
I'll grant that the anime took it a bit further and extended it to the point of blech and made everyone a cabbage head for not figuring it out sooner. But that was the anime.
And I think this here is the main issue for me. I really really really REALLY need to read the manga at some point, since I'm sure it was better paced and not so obnoxious.
Pin some of the blame where its due.
And this, I believe, is the secondary issue for me. I hardly remember anything you mentioned in those previous paragraphs, as well as a few other things you mentioned (Chi-Chi wanting Gohan to go to school). I need to reread the series.
To be fair, he showed up Vegeta then too… and made a point about it not being a technique for the living.
Hmm, so much for that.
@Yuugi's:
Certainly a lot better than the Gohan who–during the midst of the Cell Games--stopped having his head on straight.
I thought that was a very OOC moment, but the rest of Gohan's fight was badass.
I think Gohan wound up simply being a case of Toriyama not knowing how to continue writing him. With Gokû as the lead he could simply go on using the same set-up time and time again if he so wished.
My thoughts exactly.
Toriyama did his best with Gohan's set-up around the early part of the Buu arc. The Great Saiyaman arc, including what the anime did with it as well, was a lot of fun and showed another side of what having these super-powers can mean or do when you're not fighting "super-uber overloard of the moment". I think most of the problems occurred when characters like Goku, Vegeta, Goten and Trunks and even Mr. Satan began to overshadow Gohan on what was supposed to be his arc while he ended up getting screwed with Dabura and being forced to be put on the side when his dad came back to save the day yet again.
Thinking about it, most of the stuff I hate from the Buu arc involves Goku's presence in some way.
@RobbyBevard:
Yeah, that was Toriyama dropping the ball on that one. But really, he never did WANT to be a fighter, just the circumstances always forced it upon him, and there was no imminent threat, why WOULD he keep training?
Chichi ALWAYS wanted him to go to school. Just saving the world nad training for three years at a time overrode that some, much to her objection. She didn't want him being a country hick like she and Goku were, she wanted him to interact with real people his age and start getting proper papers so he could go to college. He had an awful lot of homework for homeschooled… That aspect was ALWAYS there.
And I don't think Toriyama having the same dozen faces for all his characters can be held against Gohan so much... and I actually really enjoyed the change of pace that the superhero going to school and awkward romance/training escapades provided, particularly since the other characters lampshaded things so quickly by knowing it was Gohan or thinking the outfit was stupid. Its one of my favorite parts of the series.
The dislike for the superhero outfit seems odd to me since it was basically the same design as everyone else's outfit, especially after he ditched the helmet and cape. (Which was all just parodying superman and sentai teams anyway, no different than the Ginyu force.)
I'll grant that the anime took it a bit further and extended it to the point of blech and made everyone a cabbage head for not figuring it out sooner. But that was the anime.
Gohan having full SS3+ power WITHOUT his hair going blonde or wasting energy was badass. Full three phase transformation power, WITHOUT a transformation was a nice change of pace by that point.
As for all the other stuff, every one of those are that asshole Supreme Kai's fault. He ruined everything. Including Goku and Vegeta's match. He kept Piccollo from playing in the tournament. HE froze Gohan in place so he could get suckered, and held back everyone else from helping. And HE had the asinine plan of "Hey, lets give Babidi way more energy than he actually needs because I haven't done my research and didn't realize these fight happy Saiyans can power up Buu to full in about 20 seconds and that freezing Gohan in place provides them like, half the energy they need." It was HIS idea to say "go ahead and figt Vegerta while he's evil." His idea to casually test out the potara. His idea to use a legendary sword that he had no idea the real use of.
Really. He could have told Goku "yes, there's an a powerful fighter on this planet that I am searching for" and then Goku could have done a Ki scan, located Babidi or Dabura or any of the other guys on the ship, (Since Dabura was at LEAST above Frieza level power, he should have been easy to find)
instantaneously moved there, and 1HKOed the lot of them before they had any idea what was going on and before giving Buu any energy at all, then been back to the tournament in time to fight Vegeta.If Supreme Kai had any idea what those guys were capable of.
Supreme Kai is the worst most useless character ever.
Pin some of the blame where its due.
To be fair, he showed up Vegeta then too... and made a point about it not being a technique for the living. And Vegeta was incredibly pissed off about having sold his soul to become evil again to match Goku, only to find Goku still had another reserve of power past that. And Goten and Trunks were already making jokes of the SS transformation anyway.
I agree with what Robby says about the Supreme Kai, he was a waste of space and ruined everything.
On another note: Dabura should of had his own arc that tied into the buu storyline, make to where at the end of the arc dabura is defeated but not killed babidi makes him his slave they travel to earth start buu arc.
See, the biggest problem was dealing how Frieza, decribed as the terror of the universe, wasn't anymore. Cell was fine, since he was created from his and the people who killed him's cells. Buu might work since he was sealed eons ago. But, the Supreme Kai who said he could kill him with one hit but never did and became a puss was crap and I didn't much like King Cold, who I felt came out of nowhere. Kind of alright with the Androids.
@S.C.:
But, the Supreme Kai who said he could kill him with one hit but never did and became a puss was crap
1-He said he could take care of dormant Buu. Once Buu was awake, he was way beyond his level, having destroyed all the supreme Kais back in the day.
2-He had NO clue how crazy strong the Saiyans had gotten. he recruited them as help, thinking that all of them plus him combined might last against Dabura… he had no clue that all of Babidi's forces were fodder to the group at that point. (He was still in Frieza terms of power, basically.)
Cripes, he told them to hold still while the badguys stole enough energy from Gohan to fill up half of Buu's tank, something that apparently would have taken decades otherwise.
So its pretty terrible that his entire plan hinged on fight happy Saiyans when he had no idea they were leagues and leagues beyond what he thought.
One would hope if he'd had any idea how strong they were, he might have come up with a better plan.
Dabura should of had his own arc.
With vegeta as the main character and he teams up with nappa in hell.
@RobbyBevard:
1-He said he could take care of dormant Buu. Once Buu was awake, he was way beyond his level, having destroyed all the supreme Kais back in the day.
2-He had NO clue how crazy strong the Saiyans had gotten. he recruited them as help, thinking that all of them plus him combined might last against Dabura… he had no clue that all of Babidi's forces were fodder to the group at that point. (He was still in Frieza terms of power, basically.)
Cripes, he told them to hold still while the badguys stole enough energy from Gohan to fill up half of Buu's tank, something that apparently would have taken decades otherwise.
So its pretty terrible that his entire plan hinged on fight happy Saiyans when he had no idea they were leagues and leagues beyond what he thought.
One would hope if he'd had any idea how strong they were, he might have come up with a better plan.
In fact, Piccolo was probably way stronger than Supreme Kai, yet, at that time, it seemed like he was some kind of inmensely strong being. Plus, during his and Kibito's introduction, he had this aura of overconfidence and strength and all this shit, and he shakes hands with Goku and Goku suddenly is all serious and "…this ain't gonna be easy...".
Fast Forward 5 or 6 chapters, Kai is literaly scared shitless of a pussy like Pui Pui. Great.
In fact, Piccolo was probably way stronger than Supreme Kai, yet, at that time, it seemed like he was some kind of inmensely strong being. Plus, during his and Kibito's introduction, he had this aura of overconfidence and strength and all this shit, and he shakes hands with Goku and Goku suddenly is all serious and "…this ain't gonna be easy...".
Fast Forward 5 or 6 chapters, Kai is literaly scared shitless of a pussy like Pui Pui. Great.
Which again, makes sense in the context that Kai had beyond human level power. Enough to be able to tell immediatley he's not a fodder earthling… but not so much that you could judge his power without him letting it all loose. Like gauging Frieza in his first form and going "Hey, that's strong!" but not so much that you'd be able to tell what his actual full power was.
The fact that he then proceeded to do nothing, well... I dunno what Toriyama was thinking.
God, Supreme Kai sucked in every way possible.
Babidi could have just flat out attacked the tournament and given all the same exposition in a villain monologue, and the story wouldn't be all that much different if Supreme Kai never existed.
Anything past frieza is broken in terms of the various powers the good guys had anyway, with multiple ways how they could have put away the antagonists with relative ease.
On an unrelated point, does anyone know whether these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Volumes-Double-Sided-Collectors-Booklet/dp/142152614X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291847527&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dragon-Ball-Comp-Box-Set/dp/1421526158/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1291847527&sr=8-3
Are any good regarding translation quality/censorship? Viz is always a mixed bag on these things.
Kaioshin was able to completely immobilise SSJ2 Gohan through telekinesis, something that's been shown to be pointless when the opponent is far stronger than you, so he isn't that weak. He also survived Vegeta's final explosion.
It certainly was considerate of the various threats, particularly the ancient locked away demon things, to appear in incremental increases of strength as the series went on, especially in the movies.
Would have kind of sucked if Broli or Hildegarn had come up back when the cast was still struggling with Garlic Jr.
Kaioshin was able to completely immobilise SSJ2 Gohan through telekinesis, something that's been shown to be pointless when the opponent is far stronger than you, so he isn't that weak. He also survived Vegeta's final explosion.
Shame he only used that once, to stop the GOOD GUYS and for aiding the badguys in getting energy they couldn't have otherwise.
Instead of, you know, using that power on the villains at some point or another.
Particularly after his useless fusion.
Which I always assumed was just Toriyama getting tired of drawing two guys being useless.
anslation quality/censorship? Viz is always a mixed bag on these things.
I know the later volumes of DBZ are all censored.
Swearing, Mr Satan changed to Hercule, some of the guns are censored as well I believe.
The early Dragon Ball volumes may be censored for nudity as well.
Gotta love Viz
Are any good regarding translation quality/censorship? Viz is always a mixed bag on these things.
No telling. there's like 18 variants of the first volume, mostly due to naked Bulma and Goku crotch. At some point in time it was uncensored, then it was, then it wasn't again… I think currently the nudity is covered with soap bubbles/glass shine. My personal copy is unedited.
But beyond that its pretty much uncensored. I think the middle finger might be taken out in a spot or two, Satan/Hercule, and I know during the buu saga a shotgun was stupidly made into a laser gun... (presumably because it was used to kill a dog rather than plink uselessly off a super powered alien).
The buu saga took the oddest hit though, because thats when they started doing the Shonen Jump line and it started going straight to trade... or something. (Which is wierd because the Cell stuff that appeared in monthly jump, became unedited in trade...) I dunno. Its the whim of the editor of the week apparently and the order came down from on high that it had to be for 7 year olds instead of 13 year olds or something.
Those are the biggies I'm aware of.
The older an edition and earlier a printing of a particular volume, the less likely it is to be edited.
(Extra bizarre, the first time they printed Dragonball in trade, they took out the nudity, and there were MASSIVE censorship complaints, so they reprinted it unedited in response to that... only to edit it again years later.)
There's also a scene where #17 points his handgun at a guy's head and shoots. In the Viz version it's changed to a balled fist. Because punching someone's face in is more childfriendly.
Thanks for that guys.
I guess to be sure what I'm getting I'll need to find some 2009 vintage volumes in retail.
The censorship is pretty mild, all things considered. Its stupid, but most of the volumes are free and clear of it and its just the handful of instances. I'm sure there's a comprehensive list somewhere.
Aside from the things I noted, I've never noticed or been bothered by anything… but it might have gotten worse in more recent printings.
Oh, and its entirely possible there's removed cigarettes or Popo with extra tone on his lips or something. DEPENDING ON WHEN IT CAME OUT. Oii.
Apparently the tell-tell sign is the newfound edits occurred at the same time that Viz changed their logo, so you can tell when a volume is censored or uncensored based on if it has the original "Viz" logo or the new "Viz Media" logo.
So, white boxes are bad. No idea how much editing went on in the new ones.
…I have the first printing of volume 16 where they messed up the spine image, and instead of having the back of Bulma's bike they have Piccollo from volume 17/Z 1. Kooky, they apparently fixed that at some point.
My asian friend who loves manga told me he hates Dragonball :'c
He likes Hellsing though which I started browsing through during the Summer. Need to get back into it, it seemed pretty good.
Hellsing finished awhile ago.
The thing is, Supreme Kai, at first, seemed like an uber powerfull being, with his confidence, his smile, intimidating Piccolo, stoping Gohan. . .
That's why I think Toriyama re-wrote him as the story advanced; even when Gohan went SS2, he wasn't "SHIT, this guy's insanely strong!", more like "he is really strong, I don't know if I'll be able to stop him. . .". He sensed Gohan's strength, and admitted it was really strong, but he didn't act all surprised and scared, and instead kept his cool, like it was just a little off what he calculated, not much else.
Then, Vegeta defeats f*cking Pui Pui in his base form, and Kai is like "WTF is this strength? This is too much, it's awesome, it's unveliavable, I've never seen this, this guy totally surpasses my wildest dreams, bla bla bla". . .C'MON! Gohan's show of power was 100x more impressive and you barely comment on it, Vegeta pimp slaps a guy who is probably 1st or 2nd form Freeza level (being generous), and you act like you just saw something from another dimension. . .
Bullshit. This guy got rewritten on the spot, I'm sure of it.
qGMX_-vUM8s
dabura takes out a useless character
Kibito's a healer, so he's far from useless.
Here's what I've never gotten. Saiyans become stronger every time they are beaten within an inch of their life right?
Why did it never occur to Toriyama to just have Goku and Vegeta constantly beating the fuck out of eachother for like a day or two while Dende constantly heals them? They would become gods by the end of it.
Granted it totally would've broken the manga, but still I wonder why no one ever suggested it aside from that one time on Namek where Vegeta asked Gohan (or was it Kuririn?) to shoot him for this exact reason?
Because after the Freeza saga, Toriyama only used this plot element with super perfect cell. Nevermore.
See how Vegeta got beaten to an inch of his life 2 times during the cell saga, and 1 time by Android 18. He never got stronger with any of those.
Yet, during the Freeza saga, he got THREE power boosts. 3 beatdowns, 3 MASSIVE power boosts.
It was simply left aside. Toriyama realised it was a BAD idea to even create this thing to begin with.
I guess I'm just anal about continuity.
Here's what I've never gotten. Saiyans become stronger every time they are beaten within an inch of their life right?
Why did it never occur to Toriyama to just have Goku and Vegeta constantly beating the fuck out of eachother for like a day or two while Dende constantly heals them? They would become gods by the end of it.
Warrior's pride. Reaching your upper limits through training and rivalry is one thing. Exploiting genetic backlash is a shameless shortcut and humbling and unsatisfying, and inevitably, it isn't enough to do the job anyway. Namek was just an emergency situation.
Its also possible that it topped out at Super Saiyan levels and stopped working that way, since that transformation instantly jumped their power hundreds of times over.
(Or, Toriyama just forgot. He forgot things and retconned all the time.)
Worth noting, Goku nearly died while training in 100x gravity on the way to Namek a couple times and had to use a senzu to restore himself. This is usually glossed over because it wasn't in a fight.
He didn't forget about it, he even had Buutenks mention that Gohan didn't become any stronger after being beaten to near death and then healed by Dende.
I guess topping out around SS is a good enough reason then. At that juncture, jumping a few thousand points from a near death heal, (or even 100,000) when on the scale of millions, is pretty negligable.
Also potentially even Saiyan bodies can only take so much of that crap in short order.
He didn't forget about it, he even had Buutenks mention that Gohan didn't become any stronger after being beaten to near death and then healed by Dende.
So he only forgot about it temporarily.
@RobbyBevard:
I guess topping out around SS is a good enough reason then. At that juncture, jumping a few thousand points from a near death heal, (or even 100,000) when on the scale of millions, is pretty negligable.
So why did Cell get such a great power-up?
I guess the plot said so.
Because his cells are better. He can regenerate from a single cell, whereas Piccolo's entire head needs to be intact.
So why did Cell get such a great power-up?
Because he was designed with upgrading and regeneration in mind, and also had some Namek and Frieza in him, and came into physical contact with Super 2 Gohan so he probably got some of that DNA set too.
He might not have upgraded quite so much without having faced Super 2 Gohan.
Hell, he got everyones moveset too, despite those not being genetic. I think he even had a random Tien move for some reason. And learned instantaneous movement after seeing it like twice.
Trying to add logic to Dragon Ball, is the height of stupidity.
Either you roll with it and accept all the plot holes (cough) Cell regenerating his head (cough), or you just give up completely.
Vegeta's power boost got him from a tie with 1st form freezer, to facing final form freezer. That was the result of Krillin blasting a whole through him.
Also, he was overpowered by Reecom like a little bitch; a senzu bean later, he slaped Jeese around like nothing.
His power boosts were MASSIVE. All of them. And they are allways relative to the power you have, they don't go up by a fixed number. So them simply disapearing from the plot untill Cell got an insane power boost seems to me more like Toriyama didn't want the main characters farming cheap xp like that.
And I went through DB quite long ago, but I don't remember that particular Buutenks line regarding Gohan not earning a power boost after being healed by Dende.
Either you roll with it and accept all the plot holes (cough) Cell regenerating his head (cough), or you just give up completely.
Wouldn't that be a combination of Piccolo's regenerative ability and Freeza's ability to survive in basically any condition, though? Presumably, he'd only be forced to regenerate from a single cell if there was nothing else left to regenerate from.